In response to a series of ongoing high level meetings on national implementation of human rights recommendations, ISHR is calling for such processes to fully engage civil society and human rights defenders.

In response to a series of ongoing high level meetings on national implementation of human rights recommendations, ISHR is calling for such processes to fully engage civil society and human rights defenders.

As part of two panel discussions on national human rights follow-up systems and processes taking place at the UN in Geneva on 9 November and 14 November 2016, ISHR's Treaty Bodies advocacy director, Vincent Ploton, provided advice on what steps could be taken to better ensure recommendations from UN bodies are implemented at a national level:

• In line with the practice established by some treaty bodies, Special Procedures, treaty bodies and the UPR should prioritise the adoption of objective criteria to assess and to incentivise implementation of their recommendations, and to solicit and accept information from independent NGOs to inform such assessment

• UN country teams should make more efforts and publicly commit to supporting the implementation of all UN human rights recommendations evenly, regardless of the mechanisms they emanate from

• UN human rights bodies should recommend wherever relevant the establishment of protection mechanisms for human rights defenders (HRDs) as a means to facilitate the implementation of HRD related recommendations 

• UN human rights bodies should also systematically request States under review to establish national follow up systems when relevant

• In line with the practice recently established by the Committee against torture, States should be encouraged to adopt national implementation plans on UN human rights recommendations

9 November panel: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/IntersessionalPanel.aspx

14 November panel: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6XUJ0SW4C68ZjE3SWlrbXNNSW8/view